Hot Spring
by Traveling Trainer
Summary: A guild of explorers takes their first steps into a newly-discovered labyrinth, and finds something unexpected. An Etrian Odyssey-based oneshot.


"Wow... it really is warm in here. Hey, Sahra, do you think we could store our extra clothes back on the Procne?"

"Yes, Skylar, we could. Let me just throw this down first."

A rope ladder spilled over the side of the skyship, tumbling against the wooden planks until it hovered just a few inches from the floor of the limestone cavern, pulling taut as it was tied twice to keep it secure on the railing running around the edge of the craft. A dark-haired man wicked a bead of sweat off of his brow, wiping it on his green shirt and feeling the scalemail underneath shifting at his touch, and he glanced down at the smooth stone floor, which glistened from a light coating of moisture. A chilly blast of snow swirled into the chasm from up above, prompting the swordsman to look up, but the flakes had melted and turned to steam before they even got close. He shook his head in wonder at the sight, tugging on the ropes one more time before waving at his teammates to get their attention.

"Alright, we're ready to go whenever," Skylar called, resting a hand on the pommel of his sword, and the four other explorers shed their winter coats, handing them off to a young girl, who brought them into the depths of the cargo hold, appearing back outside a few moments later, adjusting the red hairband that kept her bangs out of her eyes. "It looks a little slippery inside, so be careful and watch where you walk."

"Oh, c'mon, Skylar!" A heavily armored woman, with short blonde hair, marched over to him, a tower shield noisily bouncing on her back with each and every step she took. She pushed her friend out of the way and swung her legs over the railing, still speaking as she climbed down. "Who gives a shit if it's slippery? Anything's better than staying in that hellhole outside!"

"Tell me what it's like down there, Naomi! Er, wait, don't, nevermind, I'm gonna come down with you right now!" A white-coated man yelled as he hurried after the fortress, his medical satchel swinging around wildly as he hopped over the side of the skyship and slid down the rope ladder as well. Skylar watched as the medic went, flashing a brief smile as a cream-furred canine walked over and watched with him, and they both tensed up, flinching, when they heard a loud, surprised 'oof!' escape their teammate's mouth. The beastwoman leaned further over the railing, hands clasped to her chest, and she closed her eyes and sighed softly when she saw that the medic was okay.

Skylar looked from the toes of his boots up to his arms, giving himself a short, last once-over; his backpack rested comfortably over his shoulders, and his sword and shield sat at his hips, ready to draw at a moment's notice. He felt something prod his wrist, and he glanced over at Sahra, who pulled her bow away once she had gotten his attention. "Hanae and I have made the usual preparations. The Procne's as ready as it can be for now."

He nodded at the young girl, looking from her to the bushi nearby. Her tail wagged gently back and forth, and she nodded at him. The swordsman smiled. "Thanks, you two. Let's get going, then, before Naomi and Damien get too far ahead of us."

They clambered down the skyship, their two teammates waiting for them at the bottom of the cave, and they huddled together, taking their first steps into the unfamiliar cavern. Naomi grunted as they wound their way through a small, cramped passage, dragging the pointed end of her hammer across the wall in case she lost her footing, her armor drowning out Damien's note-taking. Hanae lifted her legs high – marching almost as stoutly as Naomi did – having to grasp the hem of her padded dress as the claws on her feet scratched the surface of the damp limestone floor. Skylar glimpsed the grimacing bushi out of the corner of his eyes, the sunlight from outside having only faded a little, and he reached out after a couple seconds, gingerly rested a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed.

She froze at his touch, almost prompting him to ashamedly pull away, but then reached up and patted the back of his hand, mouth twitching into a small smile, though her discomfort from the moistened stone was still there. Something tiny and wet dripped audibly from above, landing on their fingers, and they both let go, turning and gazing at a stalactite, the water on it gleaming in the light. Damien tilted his head, curious as to what his teammates were looking at, and turned as well, oohing when he saw the stone formation and hastily scribbling a sketch into his journal before they rounded a corner and the limestone spike vanished from view.

Suddenly, Naomi ground to a halt, causing the other explorers following her to bump into her shield, and the knight stumbled forward another step, digging her heels into the cavern floor and peering over her shoulder at Skylar, Hanae and Damien as they were all shaken back to attention. Sahra managed to sidle up to the opposite wall, slipping past the armor-clad woman and looking around. Naomi snorted in amusement as the swordsman, bushi and medic regained their bearings, and gestured ahead of them. "What the hell was so interesting about that tunnel, huh? Take a look at this place!"

"Um, Naomi... could you please tell us when you... stop like that." Hanae's quiet question trailed off into silence, jaw dropping and eyes widening to the size of saucers as she stared into the room at the end of the passage. Skylar furrowed his brow, following her gaze, and he recoiled in shock, processing what lay before them.

Damien was the last to notice, scratching at his messy mop of hair with the end of his charcoal pencil before pausing and grinning broadly, excitement overflowing as he pushed past Naomi and walked into the room. "Oh wow! Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow look at all of this!"

The tunnel had given way to a larger, more open cave, pillars of limestone rising all around, unfrozen water flowing through cracks in the rock and splashing into deep streams, sending ripples onto the surface of the otherwise calm pools. Jagged chunks of ice seemed to sprout like plants from the base of the walls, standing out from the smoother rock, and they reflected the strong light being cast by a bunch of shimmering, red-and-yellow scales that sat in the middle of the path. The heat of the cave grew stronger, washing over the explorers and completely overpowering any lingering traces of the Sacred Mountains' frigid weather. Swallowing his surprise with an audible gulp, Skylar ambled into the cave, stopping just behind Sahra and Damien, the former carefully working on the start of a map, the latter flipping through his journal in search of a blank page.

"This is... this is incredible!" The swordsman murmured to himself, shaking his head slightly at the sight, and Naomi clapped his backpack, making him lurch forward. Hanae gently moved past the two of them as he turned and looked at the fortress, who grinned toothily at him.

"It's a good thing we found this place! It's got the monument outside and it's way better than that goddamn batcave to boot! Hah!" She crowed in reply.

Skylar stood up straight again, exhaling as he listened to the knight's words, and he eased himself into the cave, letting out an 'excuse me' before he tiptoed between Damien and Sahra. The sniper rolled up her map and slipped it into one of her belt's pouches, buttoning it up again before moving closer to the strange scales nearby, stopping a good distance away. The swordsman narrowed his eyes upon noticing the wisps of steam that rose from one of the calm streams, and he watched as it went higher and higher until it settled on the ceiling. He looked over at the other side and blinked when he saw Hanae, who stood at the edge of the other pool, one leg lifted a couple inches off of the ground.

"Er... Hanae?" He quietly called. The beastwoman's ears perked up, and she turned her head just a tad to look at him. "How's the water?"

She answered him with a bow of her head, and focused again on the stream, lowering her foot bit by bit until her pawpads dipped inside. Her cream fur bristled instinctively, and she recoiled, a yip escaping her muzzle as she started to lose her balance. Skylar sucked in a breath and stepped forward, but Sahra managed to reach their friend first; the young girl shifted her weight around and grabbed Hanae's midsection, holding her as steadily as she could. Skylar ran over anyway, helping the young girl by grabbing their teammate's shoulders, the bushi's long blonde sidelocks spilling over her arms and onto the man's wrists.

"T-Thank you..." Hanae said shakily, finding her footing again, and she squatted down and dabbed at her leg. Skylar and Sahra both crouched next to her, and the sniper pulled an arrow from her quiver, flipping it around and dipping the fletched end into the stream. The brief commotion caught Naomi and Damien's attention, and as they walked over, the beastwoman let herself sit down, wearing a surprised expression as she answered Skylar's question. "The water's... hot! It's very, very hot."

"She's right. Here, check for yourselves." Everyone looked to Sahra, who held her arrow out, drawing circles in the air with it to beckon everyone to feel the feathers stuck to it. Naomi crushed the tips of the fletching, then realized she was wearing her gauntlets and groaned, prompting Damien to stifle a round of laughter behind his coat, to which she dug her other gauntlet into his hair. Skylar tapped the bottom of the arrow, raising his eyebrows as a dribble of hot water fell onto his fingers, and he brought his hand over, watching the droplet hang from his nails before he shook it off, sending it flying back into the stream.

"So it's like a hot spring, then!" Damien said, patting his satchel with his notebook, and he walked down to the end of the stream, studying the water that churned forth from within the wall of limestone. He leaned in close, his nose starting to twitch, then stopping, and then the medic took a deep breath through his nostrils, coughing a bit as he inhaled some steam. "But I don't smell any sulfur so this isn't the kind of hot spring you usually see, hah! I wonder where the heat is coming from?"

"This place seriously has a hot spring too!?" Naomi exclaimed with a note of skepticism in her voice, though it wasn't enough to hide her excitement. The fortress dropped her shield to the floor, metal clattering against stone, and she knelt down and shoved her arms into the stream, letting the heat of the water sink into her armor. She grinned, even bigger and toothier than before. "Oh, you've gotta kidding me! What is up with this labyrinth!?"

Skylar chuckled, crossing his legs and sitting down next to Hanae, running his fingers through his hair as a few clouds of steam wafted over to them, and the beastwoman gently stretched out, bracing herself as she slipped her feet into the pool once again. Her muscles grew tense as she let her legs rest against the ledge, turning her head slightly as the light in the cavern glinted off of the spikes of ice jutting up nearby. The swordsman reached out with cupped palms, hissing quietly as he scooped up a handful of the scalding water, and he shook his head; it was definitely a hot spring of some sort, there was no doubt in his mind. He looked at Hanae again after a few moments when she sighed, having gotten used to the temperature.

"I guess the Outland Count would be pretty interested in hearing about this," The explorer remarked, curling his legs close to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. Hanae turned to him and nodded, lightly bouncing her legs against the limestone as she clasped her fingers together, resting her hands in her lap. Her tail wagged happily as she started to relax, and Skylar gazed at the fluffy appendage for a second or two before shrugging. "You know what... why not?"

"Mmm?" Hanae watched as she kicked ripples through the stream, following them with her eyes as they went from one side of the pool to the other. A shifting sound drifted past her ears, and she looked over at the man sitting beside her, gasping slightly as Skylar untied his boots and set them aside, still wearing his shin guards as he scooted forward, curled his toes, and stuck his ankles into the hot spring. He inhaled through clenched teeth, and the beastwoman reached out hesitantly. "Skylar...?"

The swordsman just grunted under his breath, digging his knuckles into the limestone and taking a few heavy gulps of air. The pool's heat was strong enough to make his hair stand on end, but soon enough, his pained wince morphed into a mild, sheepish smile, and he waved reassuringly at his friend again, shivering ever-so-slightly as the water flowed past them.

"If you two are going to relax, then I..." Sahra began, and the two explorers looked over at the young girl, who had stood up and returned her dampened arrow to the quiver hanging from her hips, her mouth flattened into a serious line. She glanced over at their teammates, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the bright ice spikes, then peered further away at the path of dry ground – or mostly dry ground, anyway, Skylar noted to himself – that led further into the warm cavern. "I'm going to go and take a look at those scales. Damien, come with me, and stay at a safe distance."

"Huh?" The man turned away from the flowing stream when he heard his name, and he quickly spotted the sniper as she strode towards him, getting to his feet and hurrying after her. "Oh! Oh right okay, let's check these things out now! Good idea, Sahra!"

Both the sniper and the medic eased their way between the two steaming springs, their focus locked on the red-and-yellow scales that blocked their way, and Skylar lingered on them for a few moments, watching Sahra raise her hand to keep Damien from moving any closer. Leaning back, he gazed around the cavern again, connecting an invisible line between the various stalactites that hung above his head. Hanae sighed, laying down until she was flat on the ground, her hair spilling out onto the limestone floor, and she let her arms fall to her sides, a demure smile on her muzzle. Skylar felt himself smile as well, following after the bushi and reaching over to clasp his fingers with hers, affectionately rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Mmm... Naomi is right. This is really nice, isn't it?" Hanae said softly, and Skylar couldn't help but nod his head in agreement, the other small noises around the cave sounding distant in his ears.

"I don't mind the snow, but this is a nice surprise," He replied, feeling the calmly flowing stream swirl around his ankles, and he let his head flop over, looking warmly at the bushi. She looked as peaceful as could be, a strange sight in the middle of a dangerous labyrinth like this. "And we, er... haven't had any monsters try to ambush us yet either, huh? Heh heh, seems like the perfect spot to take a rest and unwind, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Hanae nodded this time, her face turning thoughtful as she idly brushed at her padded dress, craning her neck to see what she was doing, giving up after a second or two and resting her arm on her midriff. She giggled under her breath and kicked her feet around, water splashing. "I'm sure that the Count will send some soldiers here... they'll be even happier than Naomi, won't they?"

A hard thunk, accompanied by a sharp hiss, shook them out of their trance, and Hanae jolted in place, squeezing Skylar's hand tightly as she sat upright, bending her legs and exiting the hot spring entirely. The swordsman rose as well, though not nearly as fast as his friend did, and he stared at Naomi, his vision obscured by a much larger cloud of steam that wafted between the explorers. Hanae retrieved her katana and stood up, her panic morphing into confusion, and as Skylar got out of the spring, she drew her blade and poked at the source of the steam: a rapidly melting chunk of ice. Before the three knew it, the spike had completely vanished from sight, the cooler water mixing with the hot spring, and Naomi furrowed her brow, shrugging at the other two explorers' reactions.

"What? Quit looking at me like that, I was trying to clear some space around here so I could sit down too!" The fortress growled, and both Skylar and Hanae stumbled backwards a little as the woman jabbed her tower shield out in front of her, waving it around to break up the heavier steam.

"Here, hold this for a second, Sahra, I just want to test something!"

"What? Damien, what are you-!?"

The medic let out an awkward cry of both excitement and pain, and the three explorers whipped their heads around towards their teammates – Sahra was holding onto Damien's satchel, having covered her eyes up with her goggles just in time. The older man stood in front of the scales, which had flared up intensely from his approach, and he teetered back and forth in a daze, still laughing and groaning as he stumbled dangerously close to the edge of one of the hot springs.

Naomi stomped forward, armor clanking as she jogged over, and Skylar hastily finished tying one of his boots and grabbed the other one, running over with Hanae. The beastwoman put her katana away and held her arms out in a vain attempt to catch their teammate, her voice turning firm as he flailed around and lost his balance. "Damien, look out!"

Skylar's mind raced as the medic fell, and he shifted his grip on his weapon, instinctively swinging to smack the medic's backside with the flat of... that wasn't his sword, he realized a split-second later, feeling the weight of both sword and shield still at his hips. The toe of the swordsman's leather boot collided with Damien's coat, catching him by surprise and sending him stumbling into the wall across from the hot spring, an 'oof!' escaping his mouth as he rubbed at his sore forehead. Skylar pulled his footwear away as Naomi and Hanae ran past him, grabbing the medic's shoulders and preparing to yank him to safety when the cluster of scales flared up again.

All five explorers wailed as a harsh wave of heat burst forth, and Skylar scrunched his face up, tears of pain running down his cheeks as he stumbled backwards, rubbing at his eyes with his fists. Hanae and Naomi still managed to drag Damien out of the way, though everyone crumpled to the ground when they felt like they were far enough away from the scales. Sahra was the first to get her bearings back, her goggles having protected her from the second blast, and she ran over and pressed her hands into the swordsman's face, quickly helping to lessen the pain before moving on to someone else.

A full five minutes had passed before the group finally managed to come back to their senses, the pleasant mood from earlier spoiled by the figurative slap in the face, and Skylar mentally chastised himself for getting so careless in a dungeon, thoughts of unseen monsters playing in his head. After putting on his other boot, he shakily got to his feet, drawing his sword and shield, and his friends did the same, readying their weapons. Damien still wore an enormous grin as he took his bag back from Sahra, thinking aloud as he slung the satchel over his shoulder.

"I knew it! The scales give off the light that reflects off of all the ice around here..." The medic explained, unable to contain his passionate discovery as he pointed at the scales in question, then pivoted on his heels and pointed to the spikes of ice near the hot spring. "And that's why it's so bright in this cave, and, and the scales give off that really strong heat, too, so they must be how the spri- gurk!"

Naomi slammed her fist into his hair again, digging into his head even harder and angrier than she had before, and Damien hunched his shoulders, still grinning through the noogie. "Will you just shut up!? You're a god damned dumbass, did'ja know that!?"

"I told you to keep your distance, Damien," Sahra added tersely, a flicker of annoyance clear in her stoic expression, and the sniper took her goggles off, wiping steam from the lenses before letting them drop down onto the collar of her overcoat.

"Hey... please..." Hanae said gently, taking a step forward and holding up her palms defensively, shrinking back and bowing her head a little when the three explorers turned to look at her. Skylar frowned and walked up to the beastwoman's side, shaking his head at his teammates as the bushi continued. "This isn't the time to be fighting like this."

"Hanae's right." Skylar glanced at the cluster of scales, which had died down to the same, level heat and light that they had been giving off before, still sitting right in the middle of the path, cutting off the only way into the rest of the cavern. "Damien... what were you saying again? The scales heat this place up?"

"Ahh- yep, that's right," The medic answered, fluffing his hair and massaging his scalp as he slipped away from Naomi's fist, brightening up as he started explaining again. "See, the scales are all shimmering, so they have to be really hot! So they provide the light and heat inside the cave. I didn't think they'd get hotter if I got close, though! Eheh, so... sorry about that, everyone!"

"You'd better be!" Naomi growled, but relented, picking up her hammer and tower shield again and tapping the head of the weapon against the hard metal plates. Damien gave her a sheepish grin, but looked away when Sahra tugged on his sleeve.

"Apology accepted, Damien," The young girl nodded. Damien beamed happily, patting her ponytail in response.

"So... what does this all mean? If it's dangerous to get close, does that mean we can't get further into the labyrinth?" Hanae asked, ears flattening as she gestured towards the roadblock. Skylar raised his head at the question, rolling it around in his mind as Damien looked over and leaned from side to side. The implications weren't lost on him – the monument outside the cavern meant that unless they were missing something, then they were stuck. Without the tablet that had to be hidden somewhere in the cave, any attempt at exploring beyond the Sacred Mountains would be impossible...

"So that was the Procne I saw on the way here. Good to see you all in one piece."

The explorers turned to look at the new voice, and Hanae smiled at the middle-aged swordsman that was casually strolling towards them, tucking a familiar orange scarf into his cuirass and letting the loose ends fall, sandwiched between his back and his backpack. He slipped a hand into his pants pocket, reaching out with the other and breaking off a stake of ice as he passed the patch of spikes by, waving it around like a baton before brandishing it towards the cluster of scales. Damien gasped, putting the pieces together and digging out his journal. Sahra waved, sharply nudging Naomi in her side, and the fortress grunted, waving as well.

"Whirlwind," Skylar said, nodding his own greeting. "Good to see you too."


End file.
